Extensible fastener



June 27, 1939..l AR. RlcHTM'YvE-:R 21,153,811

' v i v Ex'rENsIBLE FASTENER y 'Filed sept. l2. 1938 ATITORNEY y 2,163,811v ExTENsmLE FAs'rENEn Arthur R. Richtmyer, Larchmont,` N. Y., assignor to Francis John; Bayliss, Walsall, AStraffoi'dl y shire, England I Application September, 1958, SerialNo. 228,129

A3 Claims.

, 'I'his invention relates to improvements'in ex# 4tensible fastening means for belts, supporters vandaother `articles of clothing and has for itsy object to providean extensible ilttingcontained -IS partly'withlnthe .looped end of a. belt;`V or thelike j Vand partly outside the latter forA the purpose of being engaged with the opposite endfof the belt- `or other supporting element and allowing the same to yieldably ladjust itself to the wearer.

Heretofore, theV extensiblelfastening means has been mounted wholly within the looped end of .the belt andv engaged with a buckle or other attachment, .which projects outwardly'from the."

i sides ofthe loop and which as a consequence lymakes- 'it-necessary to leave the sides of the 4lo'opopen.v :The present invention overcomes-the necessityy of an open loop `by projecting a. portion fof" the extensible fastening means 4directly through and beyond the turn in the loop for f [attachment to its complementary fastening member;

Y I accomplish the objects kof my inventionby means of a device, 'one embodiment of which will be described in the following specification, set

fr 2o forth in the appended claims and is illustratively exemplied in .the accompanying drawing, in

` which Figure 1 is aplanelevational view of the A `opposite ends of a,belt,sh'owingav portion ofthe y loop v,atone end cut away to disclose the con- 50- struction ofthe extensible fastening means; Figvure "2is asubstantially longitudinal section view of the belt'ends and extensible fastening means f vengaged with its complementary .memben ther I A section being takenY along 1in'es2'-',2 of Figure 35 1;'and Figure`3is a perspective view of theslide 'fastening element. I Referring or' fabric strap lor belt having one end turned afback. upon itself for a substantial distance -to ,40sform a4 loop Il.

The opposite end of the beltIIl is free and carries a slide Abuckle I2, which `con,- sists of an outer plate I3, spaced undery plate I`4 and pivoted rclamp `jaw I5 disposed between the two plates and adapted to be forced into en- ,gagement'with thefree end portion of the belt projecting through thespace between the plates. The jaw. Iii` beyond the pivot is provided with a bale v I6 which projects youtwardly from underv the v'end of the buckle I2, as illustrated inFigures 5o. :L1 and2. It is not essential that this particular construction of buckle be used because anyv unit fhaving a bale or bar maybe employed fory the purpose;

Disposedl'partly within the loop II is the extensible fastening means, `which comprises'a rear to the"drawing,l0 denotes a.k leather v (ci. 24a-s) plate I1 permanently mounted upon a shortstrip of leather I8 which is secured byl means of stitching I9 to the end of the loop and the overlying portion of the belt. The inner side of the `plate I1 is provided with transversely spaced hooks 20,

each thereof being connected to an end of a coiled spring 2|. 'I'he springs 2I are Adisposed .longitudinally of the loop I I and are connected at their opposite ends to hooks 22 of a slide plate 23'.'k The plate 23 is a substantially U-shaped flat piece of metal having the hooks 22 integral with the closed end of the plate and the arms 24 allow the bale I6 to pass upwardlyinto the hooks 21 `and when the bale has properly seated itself in thehooks the tongues spring downwardly` under the baleand hold it against falling out of the hooks. l, j v 'Toadjust the belt I0 to the wearer its free end 'is threaded through the buckle. I2, between the plates I3 and I4 thereof, randover the jaw I5. The hooks 21 are engaged about the bale 'I6 and the free end `of the belt III is drawn through the buckle I2 until properly adjusted, the free end overlying the opposite or loop end -I'I of the belt and being confined to this position by means of a transverse loop 28 carried by the loop vend II and admitting the free end of the belt therethrough. Any expansion or contracby the extensible fastening means, the arms 24 of which are free vto move freely in and out of theslots inthe closed end of the loop end II.. The looplend II is closed along yits opposite `sides byrows of stitching 29 so that the ilx'ed` plate I1., springs 2| yand a portion of the slide plate 23-are entirely encased-within the loop.

Having now described my invention and the manner in which the same operates what I claim and desire to-secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In a .belt or the like, the combination of a strap having one end turned back uponjitself l and stitched alongfthree sides to form a closed loop and being provided with spaced transverse tion of the belt after belngadjusted is provided' slotsl in the turn ofthe loop, a Ushaped slide plate arranged within the loop and having its arms projecting through the slots and terminating in lhooked shaped portions,y springs within 2 n n l 2,163,811

theloop connected at their Pforward ends to the closed end of the slide plate and i'lxed at their opposite ends to the strap, and a buckle adjustable over the free end of the strap and provided with a. bale to detachably engage in the hooks 'of the slide member.

2. A belt, as claimed in claim .1, in which the arms of the slide member 'are provided with spring tongues turned at their rfree ends to project into the hooks and yield when the bale inserted to allow same to `pass and then spring outwardly to engage over the bale to hold it in the hooks.

3.V A belt, as claimed in claim 1, including a plate xed on the strap between the strands 5 thereof forming the loop and provided with means to receive and hold the inner 4fixed. endsy of the springs. ,f

' ARTHUR R. RICHTMYER. 

